BBC’s The Food Chain Tackles Smell and Taste Loss

The Food Chain is a BBC radio show which “examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.” A recent programme, entitled “I Can’t Taste!” looked at the impact that smell and taste disorders can have on people.

The programme looked at what people eat if they can’t appreciate the taste and flavour of their food. Featured on the show was cookery writer Marlena Spieler, who temporarily lost her sense of smell in a car accident, but found she became a more experimental cook as a result of her experiences. Also interviewed was Fifth Sense member Adrian Wellock, who discusses how his taste loss changed his social life, but he still manages to enjoy his food.

The presenter also met Prof Barry Smith, Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses, who explained how the senses of smell and taste work together to create flavour, and some of the causes of smell and taste disorders.